Prisoners of mother England

Ross Gilham, Torquay, Victoria, Australia

12:01AM GMT 28 Oct 2003

Sir - In a parliamentary democracy on the Westminster model, the prime minister is invited to form a government on the basis of his or her ability to command a majority on the floor of the parliament. So, as a matter of logic, the leader of a parliamentary party should be elected by parliamentarians.

The current imbroglio in the Conservative Party is a direct result of its allowing extra-parliamentary activists to foist an unwanted leader upon elected parliamentarians. The leader of a parliamentary party should be just that.

I am amazed that British political parties have abandoned this basic tenet. Perhaps they should study parliamentary democracy as it is practised in Australia - they might learn something.